Apparatus for dispensing sheet material



' Oct.

E. J. HOWLETT 2,909,402

APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING SHEET MATERIAL A Filed Dec. 20, 1955 EN Tog Claims priority, application Great Britain Ja alrs, 195s- -1 3'Claims. or. 312-381 This invention relates to improved apparatus for dispensing sheet material, such as towelling, from a continuous rolled web, said apparatus being of the kind including a cabinet enclosing an assembly of parallel rolls and mechanism for enabling the web to be delivered outside the cabinet, length by length, by a succession of pulls on the -Web by the users, the arrangement being such that the delivery roll of the assembly is automatically locked and then released after each set length has been pulled. The deliveryroll constitutes a measuring roll or, as sometimes described, a metering roll, because the amount of rotation permitted prior to locking determines the set length of clean towelling issued for each pull on the towel. The apparatus provides that each user will obtain a clean length of the Web which is looped outside the cabinet, andthe assembly of rolls includes a take-up roll around which the soiled portion of towelling is drawn back into the cabinet after each operation. The

Y take-up roll is frictionally driven by reason of the roll of soiled web resting on a rough-surfaced take-up drive roll which in turn is driven by means such as chain-andsprocket from the measuring roll. The foregoing construction is referred to herein as the kind described.

It is usual in apparatus of the kind described for the web to pass from a rolled supply of clean towelling in the base of the cabinet upwardly and partly aroundthe measuring roll then over a pinch roll which nips the web against the measuring roll, from which it is looped to hang down outside the cabinet, the return of the loop passing on to the take-up roll disposed in the upper part of the cabinet. The users pull on the loop rotates the measuring roll and a length of web equal to that pulled out of the cabinet is wound up on the take-up spool.

It will be realised that although the rolled supply of clean towelling is being gradually reduced in diameter, there must be suflicient cabinet space at the bottom to accommodate a full roll, and the same consideration applies to the upper compartment of the cabinet where provision must be made to receive a full take-up roll of soiled towelling. In other words, the capacity of the cabinet in the vertical direction has hitherto necessarily been determined so as to include at least twice the diameter of a rolled supply of clean towelling plus roller mechanism located between the said clean supply and the take-up roll.

The present invention has for its object to provide means whereby apparatus of the kind described can operate efliciently within a cabinet of reduced height in comparison with cabinets of equal towelling capacity.

According to the present invention apparatus of the kind described comprises stationary support means such as a cabinet for a rolled web of towelling with its axis horizontal, including a delivery roller assembly disposed parallel above said axis for unwinding said rolled web, a soiled web take-up roll assembly movably supported parallel above said rolled web and comprising a take-up roll in friction engagement above and with a drive roll,

7 2,909,402 Patented Oct. 20, 1959 and movable means supporting said take-up roll assembly for displacement downwards towards said rolled web as the latter unwinds, said movable support means including a drive from the delivery roller assembly to the drive roll of the take-up assembly to effect winding up of the take-up roll as the rolled web unwinds whereby the takeup roll assembly descends as towelling is wound on to the take-up roll.

. In order that the said invention may be readily understood two embodiments employing a pivotal radial arm framework supporting both the take-up roll and its drive roll, will be described with the aid of the accompanying drawings in which:

Figurel shows a vertical section of the roller assembly according to the invention inside a cabinet indicated in broken lines, and

Figure 2 is a diagram of a second embodiment.

Referring to both figures, the numeral 1 designates the cabinet, 2 the measuring roll, 3 a pinch roll carried by side arms. pivoted at '13, 4 the take-upuroll for soiled towelling, 5 thetake-up drive roll, and 6 the roll of clean towelling. The web 7 from the feed roll 6 passes overthe measuring roll 2, around the pinch roll 3 and hangs down at 8 to form aloop (not shown) outside the cabinet which passes up at 9 on to the take-up roll 4. As the feed roll 6 diminishes in diameter (indicated at 6a), the take-up roll 4 increases (as at 4a). The run of the towelling in the latter positions is shown by the numerals 7a and 9a. The feed roll 6 (6a) rests in a trough 10 at the base of the cabinet.

Again referring to both figures, the take-up drive roll 5 is carried by a framework including two side arms 11 which are pivotally mounted about the fixed axis of the measuring roll 2, and a chain drive 12 (omitted for clearness from Figure 2) extends between the rolls 2 and 5 so that, on the roll 2 being rotated by a pull on the web at 8, the take-up drive roll 5 will also be driven. Both these rolls have roughened surfaces to grip the web. Any suitable locking device (not shown) is incorporated with the measuring roll 2-as usually employed in apparatus of the kind describedto limit the amount of rotation of the roll, the lock being automatically released after the pull on the web 8 is relaxed. If desired a timedelay device may be added to prevent operation of the apparatus until a predetermined interval has elapsed since the last pull. Such lock and time-delay devices form no part of the present invention and further description is therefore considered unnecessary.

In the form shown in Figure 1 the pivoted arm framework 12 is resiliently pushed up by a compression spring arrangement 14; each arm 12 carries a rod 15 passing through a hole in a horizontal lip 16 of a side plate 17, the said spring 14 encircling the rod and taking an abutment at the top against a shoulder on the rod and at the bottom against the lip '16. As an alternative, the compression spring means may be replaced by tension springs adapted to pull the arms 12 upwardly. A fixed reaction roll 18 is mounted in the cabinet over the take-up roll 4, and thus the latter is gripped between the upper fixed roll 18 and the take-up drive roll '5. The take-up roll 4 is journalled in slots 19 in the side plates 17.

As the roll 4 expands in diameter it presses the arms 12 downwardly through the drive roll 5 until eventually all the web has passed through the machine from the clean roll 6. The journals of the roll 4 have then travelled down the slots 19 to the position 4b, and the roll continues to press on the drive roll 5 which will have assumed the position 5a. It will be seen that the peripheral circle 4a of the soiled roll intersects the peripheral circle of the roll 6, but it will be appreciated that, by this time, the roll 6 has been reduced in diameter as shown at 6:2. The element 20 is a guard to keep the Web away from the rough surfaced roll 5.

In Figure 2 no springs are used but the assembly of pivoted arms 11 and roll 5 rests by gravity on the clean roll 6 by means of the saddle 21. As the roll 6 decreases in diameter it permits the pivoted arm assembly to descend, and the take-up roll 4', which rides on the roll 5, also descends, so that the increasing diameter of roll 4 is accommodated in the space left by the decreasing diameter of roll 6.

I claim:

1. Towel dispensing apparatus of the kind described, comprising a cabinet having at its base a fixed support for a rolled web of towelling with its axis horizontal, a delivery and pinch roller assembly mounted on fixed axes in the cabinet above and parallel to the rolled web, a support framework pivotally mounted at one end about the fixed axis'of' the delivery roller of said assembly with its opposite end projecting radially above and over said web, a take-up drive roll carried by the opposite end of said framework parallel to said fixed axes, arcuate guides with their axes of curvature concentric with said delivery roller axis, a soiled web take-up roll resting with its periphery in frictional engagement with the upper periphery of the drive roll, said take-up roll having its ends journalled in said guides, means displaceably supporting said framework with the take-up roll and its drive roll in an upper position above said assembly, and a drive from the delivery roller to the take-up drive roll whereby the take-up roll is wound with the unwinding of the rolled web and simultaneously descends towards the diminishing web.

2. Towel dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said displaceable support means for the take-up support framework comprises a, reaction roll journalled in said cabinet above said take-up roll, and spring means anchored in said cabinet to press said framework upwardly so thatthe periphery of the take-up roll engages said reaction roll throughout the descent of the takeup roll.

3. Towel dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said displaceable support, means for the take-up support framework, consists of a saddle fixed to the underside of the said framework and shaped to engage the periphery 01. the rolled web.

References Citedin the file of this patent Cooper Jan. 16, 

